The California Rodeo Salinas held its annual stockholders meeting on Thursday, October 20th, 2022, and welcomed new directors to the board while also appointing advisory and honorary directors. President Fred Hooker conducted the meeting and introduced the crowd of almost 200 people to the newest directors: Kyle Harmon, Tony Hernandez, Brad Rosbach, and Trinidad Valdivia. Collectively, this group has over 93 years of volunteering for the California Rodeo Salinas and they all volunteer in very different capacities. Harmon works in the roping chutes on the arena committee and started in 2002. Hernandez works on the bull xing committee with experience on the concessions, souvenir, and monster truck committees over the past 31 years. Rosbach has volunteered since 2000 on the arena committee in the roping chutes, the sponsor hospitality and now the director’s patio committee. Valdivia has spent 20 years with the California Rodeo volunteering on the rental, sponsor hospitality and maintenance and construction committees.
The California Rodeo Association also named new advisory directors. These directors have served the California Rodeo and are stepping aside for new leaders to progress within the organization. The new advisory directors are Kyle Brown, George Hansen, Pat Hitchcock, Craig Kuehl, and Jon Wooster. Brown has served on the bull xing and committee barbecue committees since 2009. Hansen started volunteering in 1989 and served as track director and chairman of the stand-alone bull riding event. Hitchcock has been volunteering since 1999, barbecuing in the sponsor hospitality area and moving on to chair the director’s patio committee. Kuehl has been with the rodeo since 1985 working on the long branch and bar supply committees. Wooster has spent the last 42 years working in the bucking chutes on the arena committee.
One honorary director, Anne Bramers, was named during the annual meeting. Honorary directors have impacted the California Rodeo Association in significant ways. Bramers has worked on the heritage museum committee since 1986 and has sought funding and curated displays to document the history of the California Rodeo Salinas in a meaningful and elegant fashion. Read full biographies below.
Directors
Kyle Harmon of Salinas started volunteering in the roping chutes on the arena committee in 2002. The 2021 California Rodeo Salinas is something Kyle is proud to have helped produce as it showcased the top rodeo athletes during the tour finale after not being able to host a rodeo in 2020. Harmon is the Director of Farming for Braga Fresh and lives in Spreckels with his wife, Samantha, and children Wells, Caroline, and Rhys. When he isn’t working or volunteering, he enjoys baseball, mountain biking, and duck hunting.
Tony Hernandez has been volunteering with the California Rodeo Salinas since 1991 and has worked on several committees including concessions, souvenirs, bull xing, and monster trucks. He is most proud of being named the 2012 committee man of the year. Originally from Jalisco, Mexico, Hernandez lives in Salinas, with his wife Araceli and works for Joypers Shoes. He has two daughters, Brenda, the rodeo’s ticket office manager, Berenice, and one son, Jonathan. When he has time, he enjoys playing cards.
Brad Rosbach started volunteering for the California Rodeo Salinas in 2000. He has worked on the roping chutes, sponsor hospitality and now the director’s patio committees. Rosbach was born in Salinas, raised in Yuma, Arizona, and lives in Salinas with his wife Jolynn and son Bailey both serve on the sponsor hospitality committee. He enjoys spending time with family, lake trips, and racing dirt bikes in his spare time.
Trinidad (Trini) Valdivia started volunteering on the rental committee in 2002. He later worked on the hospitality committee and now is a key member of the maintenance & construction committee, working year-round on events and facility improvements. Working in in the produce industry for the past 43 years, Valdivia is the Senior Quality Assurance Manager for United Natural Foods, Inc. He lives in Salinas with his wife Dolores, his high school sweetheart, and has two children, son Matthew, who lives on Oahu with his partner Louise and Valdivia’s first grandchild, Kira, and daughter Samantha, who lives in St. George, UT. Valdivia loves to visit his children, barbecue, and cook in his spare time.
Advisory Directors
Kyle Brown strongly believes in the Salinas heritage and traditions that are embodied by the California Rodeo Salinas, so he started volunteering in 2009. He served on the bull xing and committee barbecue committees and was most proud to be named a director in 2019. A commercial and agricultural real estate appraiser with Stephen Brown Associates, Brown and his wife, Bonnie, daughter, Charlotte, and son, Kenny, recently moved to Meridian, Idaho. Though it was difficult to leave friends, family and the Rodeo, the Browns love their new home where they enjoy hiking, rafting, trying new food, traveling, reading, and volunteering.
George Hansen served as the Track Director and chairman of the professional bull riding event. He started volunteering in 1989 and his proudest moment was being asked to become a director in 1990. A lifetime resident of Salinas, Hansen is retired from the hay and seed businesses. He lives in Salinas with his wife, Mary, and they have two sons, Todd and Morgan.
Pat Hitchcock loves serving people great meals and watching them have a great time, so the sponsor hospitality and director’s patio committees have been a great fit for him. Volunteering since 1999, Hitchcock is a 4th generation Salinas resident who lives in Del Rey Oaks and works for Vegetable Growers Supply selling packaging. He has a daughter named Jessica, grandson Colter, granddaughter Payton, and son-in-law Clinton. His hobbies include barbecuing for fundraisers and friends, hunting, and fishing, but he enjoys anything outdoors.
Craig Kuehl started volunteering for the California Rodeo Salinas in 1985. He worked on the long branch and bar supply committees. He was most proud to become a director and loves seeing old friends and making new ones while volunteering. A Salinas native, Kuehl has worked for Ferguson Water Works for the past 43 years. He lives in Salinas with his wife, Gail, and enjoys hunting and gardening.
Jon Wooster has been a fixture in the bucking chutes of the arena since 1980. He has found it very rewarding to work with so many great people including rodeo staff, committeemen, directors, stock contractors, and arena judges. He has fond memories of working with the older directors like Jim Bardin, George Scovel, Ken and John Boekenoogen to name a few. A self-employed cattle rancher, Wooster moved to the Peach Tree Valley in southern Monterey County in 1974 and still lives there with his wife, Jane. They have two grown sons, Theodore (T.R.) and Andrew. Wooster enjoys fly fishing and hunting.
Honorary Director
Anne Bramers has been working on the museum committee since 1986. The rodeo Heritage Museum has progressed from thumb tacks holding directors’ shirts on the wall to the beautiful glass display cases in there today under Anne’s watchful eye. Anne was integral in securing a grant from harden Foundation to build those cases and gather other donations for improvements. Born and raised in Salinas, Anne lives with her husband Bill, and they have three sons, Tom, John, and Bill, and six grandchildren. She is very involved in the community with the Entrenous ladies’ group, Alliance on Aging Trashion Show and serving on the Board at Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System for 18 years. She enjoys needlepoint and is a Stanford Football supporter.
Photos by Mag One Media. Visit https://www.carodeo.com/press.aspx and click on HIGH RES IMAGES for high resolution photos.
Directors: Trini Valdivia, Brad Rosbach, President Fred Hooker, Miss California Rodeo Salinas 2022 Mayson Bothwell, Tony Hernandez, Kyle Harmon
Advisory Director: President Fred Hooker, Craig Kuehl (other advisory directors not in attendance)
Honorary Director: President Fred Hooker, Anne Bramers
About the California Rodeo Salinas
The 113th California Rodeo Salinas will take place July 20-23, 2023. The California Rodeo Association is a not-for-profit organization that strives to preserve and promote the traditions of the California Rodeo Salinas and the West. We support the community and other non-profit organizations through the staging of the annual California Rodeo Salinas and other year-round operations of the Salinas Sports Complex. Through donation of our facility, vending and fundraising opportunities during Rodeo and other events, the California Rodeo Association returned over $563,000 to local non-profits in 2022. For more information about the California Rodeo Salinas, log on to www.CARodeo.com or call the California Rodeo Office at 831-775.3100.